was subscribed by the government. In 1832 President Jackson vetoed a
bill for its recharter, and in 1836, its twenty years charter from the Federal
government having expired, it was rechartered by the State of Pennsyl-
vania. In 1837 and 1839 it suspended specie payments, and Feb. 4, 1840,
it finally suspended, the stockholders losing everything.
Banks under State charters began to be established in 1784. In 1857
there were 1416 of such banks, most of them issuing notes, all of different
designs, which rendered the detection of counterfeits an intricate art. This
art is now greatly simplified by the comparative uniformity of the present
paper currency, which consists of — 1st. United States treasury-notes, or
"greenbacks;" 2d. Fractional currency (notes for fractions of a dollar);
3d. National bank-notes. Of the greenbacks, or "legal tenders," more
6 #
Ill i:ri:i.i:vs CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDi:.
than $428,000,000 were in circulation at one time, during the war, but
subsequent contraction brought down the amount to $356,000,000, at w hich
figure it st I just beforethe " panic "' of September, 1 s 7-'!. The Secretary of
the Tr< asury then reissued $26,000,000, and ( longress endorsed hia action by
passing the < lurrency act of June '_"_'. I s " 1. which provides "that the amount
of United States cotes outstanding, and to be used as a part of the circulat-
ing medium, shall nol exceed the sum of $382,000,000, and no part thereof
shall be held or used as a reserve." Tin- amount of legal tender notes
outstanding on the 1st of October, 1 s 7-">. was $374,010,956. The author-
ized am. 'nut of fractional currency i- >'~>o,hu0,000, but the actual issue has
never gone above $47,000,000, and formanyyears it was only 8°>0, 000,000.
The amount of fractional currency outstanding on the lsl of October, 1875,
was $40,783,575.53. < >f National Bank notes, which are secured by the
deposit at Washington of 8100,000 in United States bonds for every
$90,000 issued, $300,000,000 were authorized by the Banking act of June
3, 1864, and $54,000,000 by the Banking act of July 12, 1870. Nov. 1.
1874, "-'l! 1 '" National Banks had been authorized, of which 35 had failed
and 1_!7 had gone into voluntary liquidation by a vote of two-thirds of the
stockholders, leaving 2028 in existence at that time. The aggregate capi-
tal was 8493,7*65,121 Nov. 1, 1870, it was $430,399,301). The deposits
were $669,068,996 ($501,407,587 in L870). The loans were $949,870,628
($712,767,453 in 1870 . The amount of the notes issued was $333,225,-
298 $291,798,640 in 1870 . The number of National Banks authorized
up to September 23, 1875, was 2299. The amount of the National Bank
- outstanding on the 1st of October, 187"). was *: 1 4 7,* 63,742.
COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION OF THE
UNITED STATES.
Introduction. — The people of the United States derive a great
advantage from the extent and nature of their seaboard. The whole
Atlantic coast-line, from Maine to Georgia, presents an infinite variety of
bays, inlets, river-entrances and harbors. Many of them are capable of
accommodating the largest class of vessels. There are comparatively few
ports in this whole world which a ship with so great a draught as that of
the Great Eastern is able to enter or in which she can lie securely ; but
she can uot only enter the harbor of New York, but can lie close up to
the very shore of the city. On the South there are several fine harbors
in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific coast-line, though not so well
indented as the Atlantic, has the Bay of San Francisco, Puget's Sound
and other excellent resorts for shipping. There is even a sort of coast-line
on the northern boundary, for the great lakes forming that boundary are
almost equal to an ocean, and have a trade of their own. In addition to
coast-lines, lakes and shores, this country has the great advantage of pos-
sessing a number of navigable rivers. The Mississippi alone affords navi-
gation to ten States — viz., Minnesota Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri,
Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. Its tributa-
ries carry navigation in every direction through the great Mississippi
valley; and there is one peculiarity of these rivers which we failed to
mention in the article on Physical Geography, but which it is proper to
note in this place, as it increases their value for commercial purposes.
We refer to the comparatively level nature of the country through which
they flow throughout the greater part of their course. The average fall
of the Mississippi is only eight inches to the mile, while that of the Mis-
souri, from Fort Benton to the junction, is ten inches to the mile, and that
of the Ohio, from Pittsburg to its mouth, is only five inches to the mile.
Except on its outer rim, the basin drained by the Mississippi and its large
tributaries has an average fall of less than six inches to the mile. There
are, therefore, no rapids to obstruct navigation, and each river is navigable
as far as the depth of its stream will permit. The entire navigable length
of these rivers is about 40,000 miles, according to a recent estimate; which
the candid reader will acknowledge gives strong support to our assertion,
BURLEY'S UNITED STA1
thai "this greal river Bystem is as valuable to the country
, additional miles si would be." An English writer has
inland navigation of America is indeed quite as important as
the very hear! of the continent is touched and vast
ftre brought into direct communication with the sea-
trd and th< sport."
Earls History. Almost as soon as the settlements in America
Brmly established, Great Britain began to pursue toward
. a policy which was called the colonial polity, ^ ir !t were the
• consideration. This policy had for its object the in-
rosperity of the mother-country, without any more regard for
the welfare of the colonies themselves than was consistent with the attain-
thia object Ii resembled the course of a father who attempt- to
. continually und< r his control, who is never willing to acknow-
t said son has reached his majority, or, in common parlance, has
" and who seeks to impress upon that son's mind the idea
all his labor, even though he may have been driven by harshness
the parental roof, is for the sole use, behoof and benefit of his affec-
father. Such was the policy which was not shadowed forth, but
clearly defined, in the famous "Navigation Acts," the odium of which can-
thrown entirely upon Charles the Second, for the first was passed in
. under the auspices of Cromwell, and it was one of the few laws of
< mmonwealth which were re-enacted after the Restoration. Lord
: -aid in hi ' Ions on American Commerce, " The only use
and advants American colonies or Wot India islands is the monopoly
of their consumption and the carriage of their produce." In 1660, there-
was passed "An acl for the encouraging and increasing of Shipping
tion" [in tin' mother-country], in which it is enacted, "That
i and after the firsl day of April, 1661, no sugars, tobacco, cotton-wool"
"for short"], " indigo, ginger, fustick or other dying-
th growth, produce or manufacture of any English plantations
Asia or Africa shall be shipped, carried, conveyed or trans-
i any of the said English plantations to any land, island, terri-
. port or place whatsoever, other than to such other English
do belong to Hi- Majesty, or to the kingdom of England or
principality of Wale-, or town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, there
. under the penalty of the forfeiture of the said goods,
lue thereof, as also of the ship, with all her guns, tackle,
apj All V( BSels sailing to the Plantation- were to give bond- bo
mmodities above mentioned to England. We have given the
ious ad that the reader may see how tightly American
Id have been shackled by it- Btringenl enforcement. As
only g Is exported from America, to carry out the
CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 447
" colonial policy," in its fullest extent, another act of Parliament was
passed in 1663, to prohibit the importation into any of the English colo-
nies of any commodities of the growth, production or manufacture of
Europe, except they xv ere laden or shipped in England, Wales, or the town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in English-built shipping, with the exception
of " salt for the fisheries, wines from Madeira and Azores, and all sorts of
victuals from Scotland and Ireland." This merciful exception was evi-
dently similar to the kindness of the man who allows his draught-horse
plenty of "feed," though the scope of the act is, according to the preamble,
"to maintain a greater correspondence and kindness between the inhab-
itants of His Majesty's plantations and those of the mother-country;" but
the real motive crops out in the last clause of this preamble, which reads :
" And it being the usage of other nations to keep their plantation trade to
themselves, be it therefore enacted," etc. The effect of such enactments
upon the inhabitants of His Majesty's plantations can be easily imagined.
No great amount of reasoning is required to prove that the maintenance
of "a greater correspondence and kindness between the colonists and the
mother-country" was not likely to be secured by these fruits of the colo-
nial joolicy. A trade with Portugal and Spain had already sprung up [see
Historical Sketch, pp. 94, 95], and this exhibition of enterprise, while
it was doubtless one of the causes of the promulgation of these laws, was
also an indication of an independent spirit which could ill brook such
restraints as were imposed by the Navigation Laws. These laws gave
special offence to the people of New England, of which section Sir Josiah
Child, in his New Discourse on Trade, published in London in 1690, says,
"New England is the most prejudicial plantation to this kingdom." The
"frugality, industry and temperance" of the people, "the happiness of
their laws and institutions," cause him great alarm by the promise which
they give of prosperity for the colonies, which he cannot separate in his
mind from injury to the mother-country. These virtues are commendable
in themselves, yet he thinks it " the duty of every good man primarily to
respect the welfare of his native country." He then becomes more specific
in the statement of his grievances, or rather the grievances of the mother-
country, complaining that " The people of New England, by virtue of their
primitive charter, being not so strictly tied to the observance of the laws
of this kingdom, do sometimes assume the liberty of trading, contrary to the
act of navigation, by reason of which many of our American commodities
(especially tobacco and sugar) are transported in New-English shipping
(sic) directly into Spain and other foreign countries without being landed
in England or paying any duty to His Majesty, which is not only a loss to
the king and a prejudice to the navigation of Old England, but also a
total exclusion of the Old-English merchant from the vent of those com-
modities in those ports where the New-English vessels trade ; because, there
BURLET'S UNITED STA i
being do custom paid on those commodities in New England, and a great
custom paid upon them in < >ld England, it musl necessarily follow thai
the -li merchant will 1"- able to afford his commodity much
ipor at the market than the Old-English merchant; and those that sell
cheapest will infallibly engross the whole trade s ler or later." In an-
p account of this terrible indictment he says: "Of all the American
plantati -. II - Majesty has Done so apt for the building of shipping as
gland, nor none comparably so qualified for the breeding of sea-
l only by reason of the natural industry of that people, but chiefly
n of their cod and mackerel fisheries; and, in my poor opinion,
nothing more prejudicial and in prospect more dangerous to any
mother-kingdom than the increase of shipping in her colonies, plantations
or provinc* b."
Harsh as this doctrine may sound, it is a legitimate deduction from the
ciple upon which real the foundations of the colonial policy. How
ectual was the attempt t<> enforce restrictions upon trade which were
atrary to the principles of natural equity, the above complaint, written
thir: after the passage of the Navigation Act of 1660, gives ample
evidence. Fifty years later another English writer shows a delicacy in
approaching the subject which is in noteworthy contrast with the positive-
J ah Child. The author of The British Empire in America
â– nd edition; published in 17 11 ; p. 242) say.-: "How far the mother-
country, Old England, ought to oblige her children in trade, which she
can manage herself more for her own interest, though she sent these colo-
abroad to plant countries to subsist by and make the most of, I will
not h< re dispute, nor under what obligation the New England people ought
to be put [by legal enactment] to prevent their sending their goods to the
market, and to make use of thai in England, g 1 or bad. There's
at deal i" be said on both sides of the question; and since it cannot
jsed without giving offence in Old England or New England, and
in both, I shall leave it as 1 found it, unless I had a better call to
it, without officiousness, impertinence or whimsy." If the minis-
II. and George 111. had been as anxious as was the writer
'I" i- clear of "officiousness, impertinence and whimsy,"
â– uillv of the last-named article (of their possession of which in abun-
, -""- their conduct gave ample proof), perhaps the Revolution
&ht 'â– a indefinitely postponed. A cabinet-minister of George IN'..
m, the friend and colleague of Canning, was of the opinion thai
of the Revolution arc to be found, nol merely in the irri-
which followed Mr. Grenville's plan of taxation [see
3keti ii. pp. 98, 99], but in the long-cherished discontent of
: " thi- tern of legislative oppression. He said also, in his
oial policj of the country delivered in Parliament
CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE. 449
March 21, 1825, " From all the experience which we can collect from the
conduct of this country in respect to its colonies — from all that we witness
of what is passing in the colonies of other States — I come to this conclu-
sion : that so far as the colonies themselves are concerned, their progress is
cramped and impeded by the old system of exclusion and monopoly, and
that whatever tends to increase the prosperity of the colonies cannot fail,
in the long run, to advance in an equal degree the general interests of the
parent-state." Whence had Mr. Huskisson obtained these enlightened
views? We answer, without hesitation, from the careful study of the his-
tory of our Revolution and of the Declaration of Independence. In proof
of this assertion we offer the following extract from another portion of the
same speech: "At any rate, let us, as the parent-state, fulfil our duties
with all proper kindness and liberality. This is true wisdom, affording us
on the one hand a solid and lasting connection, and on the other the best
hope, if (which God avert!) in the progress of human events that connection
is ever to be dissolved, that the separation may not he embittered by acrimony
and bloodshed; and the certain consolation that, however brought about,
it will not have been hastened or provoked by vexatious interference or
oppressive pretensions on our part." The portions of this extract which
we have italicised and the concluding clause tell their own story. The
opening words of the Declaration of Independence were evidently in his
mind, together with the specifications contained in that terrible indictment
brought in by a free people against a tyrannical king.
Each section of the country had its own peculiar sufferings to undergo.
In Virginia, for instance, where the staple product was tobacco, a duty
was imposed which amounted to eight pounds upon a hogshead containing
four hundredweight, which, when the "charges" are added, brought it up
to about sixpence a pound.* The author of The British Empire in America
*Our readers can form some idea of the difficulty in obtaining accurate figures
when they learn that, although the oppressiveness of this duty is complained of in
several histories, the precise amount was ascertained only by hours of labor. It is
given in none of the ordinary authorities, previous writers having probably met with
the same difficulty which we experienced in endeavoring to secure accuracy. After
a long and tedious search through general and local histories, we met with a work
bearing the following promising title : An Historical Account of all Tares, under
what denomination soever, from the Conquest to the Death of King George the First; Lon-
don, 1733. From this work we learned that to James II., at the time of Monmouth's
rebellion, was granted, "Upon every pound-weight of tobacco imported into England
or Wales, or the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, of the growth and production of any
of His Majesty's plantations, islands or territories in America, three pence above
what it then paid." Now, this would be a very valuable statement, provided only
that we knew how much "it then paid ;" but the Historical Account nowhere informs
us. Having deluded us with false hopes, it haves us in a condition little if any
better than that in which we were before consulting its pages. At length, in another
old book, we found the full amount of the duty, viz., five pence, which, with the
29
450 BUBLET'S rsmn 8TAT1 -
mewbal outspoken in his condemnation of this imposition than
in bis remarks on the navigation laws. Be Bays: "In the year 1685 that
luty which has bo long loaded tobacco had been the occasion of
Belling many thousand hogsheads ai twelvt penct a hogshead, rather than
m and chargi - imposed on this commodity three months after
rown. This imposition is the original cause
traits and hindrances in trade and circumstances which the
\ iuians groant 'I under above fifty years. "lis amazing to consider that
mmodity worth, when it grows, a half-penny a pound, should have
BU bt above half a century, under the weighl of an imposition
â– than ten times the value of the prime cost. This duty has raised
above twenty millions sterling since it was first imposed. It was obtained
win n the Parliament were in a warm lit of loyally, just on the Duke of Mon-
mouth's landu lie says in another place, speaking of the hard-hips
caused by these heavy duties: " If it [the article exported] wants in good-
there is no abatement for it — no consideration for high freights and
pr. miums of insurance, for a small crop, the dearness of hands, and other
â– .. m- which may prove the ruin of this plantation [Virginia]; for
when his goods come to market, after custom and the factor's bill for com-
mission is paid, the net proceed comes to little. The poor planter is nol
only disappointed in the value of his goods, but the hills that he drew
come hack protested, and he is forced to pay exorbitant interest to prevent
1 »« - i i j -_r sued, or to sign judgments to the merchant there [in England], who,
havi the least hold upon his estate, feed- him insensibly with money
until the whole follows at a mean rate. If this fate does not attend his
bills, he is forced t" buy the necessaries at home, at dear rates, which he
i t . . England; and if he goes upon trust, it is at such prices that a
usurer blushes t<> extort; custom makes it look like lawful." We have
remarks, written in 1711. to show the results of the colonial
policy, and also to give an idea of the impression made by this system of
rtion upon the mind of at least one candid Englishman, whose opinions
w< i- - vidently far in advance of those of his contemporaries. The effect
upon commerce with the mother-country of the paper currency of New
I land i- thus described by the same author: "As to money, they have
'.< r. A.bou1 titty years ago they had some coined at Boston,
hut ugh now for retailers. All payments are in province-
- I"W a- half a .rown ; thus every man'.- lay i- in his pocket-
■makes the course of exchange so exorbitant that £100 in
I -ut lately (he writes in 17 11 | in New England l'l'2-k and
•..II the Bum-total to the figures given above.
bj ill. author of V Empire in India, as the
â– mil- four hundredweight," i- simply a round number,
ili. "cbargi -" ar.- added
CENTENNIAL GAZETTEER AND GUIDE.
451
if a merchant sells his goods from England at £220 upon £100 in the
invoice, he would be a loser by the bargain, considering the incidental
charges upon his invoice.
Navigation laws and such heavy impositions as those which we have just
described could have but one effect upon a free people jealous of their
liberties. The obnoxious enactments were generally resisted by the colo-
nists as an encroachment upon their rights. Ineffectual attempts were
made for a century to enforce them, and during the struggle the seeds of
the Revolution were sown. It is very difficult to ascertain with accuracy
the trade of the colonies before 1776, on account of the constant evasion
of the revenue and navigation laws, which were felt to be both unjust and
oppressive. When smuggling is both profitable and patriotic — moreover,
when it can be carried on with comparative impunity — it is not difficult to
find people to engage in this fascinating pursuit. The records of the
custom-house, therefore, do not furnish a reliable account of the whole
trade of the colonies; but as no registers of the smuggling operations which
were carried on during the colonial period are extant, the custom-house
books remain as the best source of information. From these the tables
given by Lord Sheffield are probably taken, and from one of these tables,
as given by Pitkin, we learn that the annual average of exports and
imports to and from Great Britain for each of the eight decades from
1700 to 1780 was as follows :
AVERAGE FROM
EXPORTS TO GT. BRITAIN.
IMPORTS FROM GT. BRITAIN.
1700 to 1710
1710 to 1720
1720 to 1730
1730 to 1740
1740 to 1750
1750 to 1760
1760 to 1770
1770 to 1780
£265,783 10s.
($1,328,517)
£392,653 17s.
($1,963,269)
£578,830 16s.
($2,894,154)
£670,128 16s.
($3,350,644)
£708,943 9s.
($3,544,717)
£802,691 6s.
($4,013,456)
£1,044,591 17s.
($5,222,959)
£743,560 10s.
($3,718,802)
£267,205 3s.
($1,336,025)
£365,645 6s.
($1,828,226)
£471,342 12s.
($2,356,713)
£660,136 lis.
($3,300,683)
£812,647 13s.
($4,063,238)
£1,577,419 14s.
($7,887,095)
£1,763,409 10s.
($8,817,047)
£1,331,206 Is.
($6,656,030)
The amount of exports or of imports for any one of these decades can
be found, of course, by multiplying the sum given in the above table by
ten. We have rejected the pence in giving the figures in the English
denomination, as well as fractions of a dollar in reducing the various
amounts to a shape somewhat more convenient for the inspection of an
152 BURLE1TS UNITED STA ; .
American reader. It is i!ii|>"i'tunt to remember thai :i given sum of money
worth more in the eighteenth century than al the present day: also
that the custom-house valuation is always more likely to be under rather
than over the true value of the g Is. Five dollars have been reek'
t>, the pound a near enough approximation, especially as the table is
u mainly for the purpose of comparing the amount of exports and im-
with each oilier, and the amounl at one time with that at another.
The imports from Great Britain during the whole eighty years amounted,
this record, to 672,490,125 ($362,450,625), and the exports
to that country during the Bame period to £42,070,835 18.*. ($210,354,179).
This shows a heavy balance of trade in favor of the mother-country. The
?tion tin ii aris< -. How was this balance made up? for made up it musl
ha\ Id or it- equivalent." Material- upon which to base a
judgment are meagre; bul judging from those within reach, we are inclined
to the opinion that the requisite fund- to satisfy John Bull's claim were
derived from that commerce with the Mediterranean which so grieved the
iotic BOul "f Sir Josiah Child. In 1769, for instance, there are the
following return- of —
EXPORTS FROM THE COLONIES.
£ s. d.
I Great Britain 1,531,516 8 6
($7,657,782)
.. West todies 7 17.910 3 7
$3,739,550)
/ Soui I oe 552,736 11 2
.S2,7i;:!,6.s2i
20,278 5 1
($101,391)
Total .... £2,852,441 8 4
($14,262,207)
tMPORTS INTo THE COLONIES.
£ s. d.
Britain 1,604,975 11 11
ss.(i-_M,s77i
th< W'-: [ndiea 789,754 4 5
$3,948,771)